The goal of this work is to build upon and implement a recently begun theory of the cognitive processes of expert software engineers. Specifically the principal investigator will address the issue of how designers are able to mentally simulate designs- in-process during the early stages of the design process when the design is only vaguely specified. The work has implications for design theory and methodology; the principal investigator expects that it will be useful in understanding, supporting, and automating the design process. The model of the software designer will be implemented using cognitive modelling techniques; but the implementation will be built on Soar, a new production system architecture. This is a novel combination of methodologies that will generate theoretical and applied issues of interest to engineering, systems architecture, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science. This award is made under the program for Expedited Awards for Novel Research.
